Engine won't start - ignition problems?

My kz400 has been pretty reliable over the past 6 months, but the last time I tried to start her up, I got nothing.
Electrics all work fine and the engine turns over, but I'm not getting any ignition. One of the sparkplugs did have a little oil on it and I noticed a small amount of oil leaking out of the left side of the engine.
I replaced the sparkplugs but still nothing. Neither electric start nor kick start will work.

Any ideas what the issue could be or what I should inspect first?


Thanks

Has the coil been ohm-tested?

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No, would you recommend I start there?

Yes.

If coil is apparently okay, assure proper voltage to the coil.

With proper voltage to coil, assure continuity of ground through closed points.

Opening of the points is the event that's supposed to un-ground the coil, which causes the coil to fire.




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May sound silly, but have you checked to see if you do indeed have spark?
Sometimes, it pays to start at the simple tests (coil ohm test included).
Stick your tounge on the spark plug and turn it over. Did you get a jolt? :woohoo:
OK, maybe just simply grounding the plug to a metal part may be less painful.
If no spark, work your way back up the ignition system.

Steve

Must be continuity throughout the secondary loop.

For example, a disconnect in the cap could break the loop, in which event neither plug would fire.



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jona barish wrote: My kz400 has been pretty reliable over the past 6 months, but the last time I tried to start her up, I got nothing.
Electrics all work fine and the engine turns over, but I'm not getting any ignition. One of the sparkplugs did have a little oil on it and I noticed a small amount of oil leaking out of the left side of the engine.
I replaced the sparkplugs but still nothing. Neither electric start nor kick start will work.

Any ideas what the issue could be or what I should inspect first?


Thanks

If the Kz400 was a 2-stroke motor I would not be shocked about 'oil on the sparkplug' but in a 4-stroke motor, there is no oil-injection, there is no oil that gets burned with the air-fuel mixture. You should not normally see oil on the sparkplug.

- remove your air filter and check to see if your plastic airbox housing has oil in the bottom of it

- if it does, your oil level in the motor is too high and the 'crankcase breather' may have gurgled up some oil into your airbox

- and if oil is found in the bottom of the airbox housing, it could get sucked in via the carbs into the cylinder

- which would explain an oily spark plug


If that's not the cause of 'oil on the spark plug' then you might have a more serious problem, you should not be seeing oil on the spark plug.

Are you *sure* it's oil, or is the plug just wet with gasoline? Use your sense of smell to try to figure that out, if you do not find any oil in the bottom of your airbox housing.

If it turns out the spark plug is just wet from gas, the dang thing may simply be flooded.

1) Remove the plugs and let the cylinders air out to evaporate any gas in the cylinders

2) clean the plugs very thoroughly

3) put one plug into the spark plug cap for cylinder #1 (leave the cylinder #2 plug out for now), turn on the ignition, lay sparkplug #1 atop the cylinder so the threaded bottom metal part of the plug is physically touching the cylinder head (which, by the way, grounds the plug to the engine, the same as if the plug was screwed into its hole

4) and push the starter button - if you see spark, repeat this with spark plug and cylinder #2

If you do NOT see spark, that could explain why your plugs are wet -- gas is successfully entering the cylinder from the carb but with no spark, it does not ignite, only makes the plug wet.

Report back after checking for spark.

Manuals --

kz400.com/WorkshopManFrameset-5.html

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Thanks Patton, I've used those manuals frequently.

What's the actual procedure for ohm testing the coil? I'm still pretty green when it comes to electrical maintenance.
Which wires do I need to test?

Ohm testing the ignition coil(s) envolves disconnection of related wiring, so not to affect the readings. Most ignition coils will test between 1.3 to 3 ohms on the primary(small wire side) and secondary(sparkplug wire ports)side of the coil will read between 10.4K to 15.6K ohms.

The Best Mutimeter Tutorial

Good Stuff I'll use it